Written in retrospect as its now day 3 :-)
Horrendously cold and rough swim race to kick off camp, I survived it though - with a large amount of salt water intake and breast stroking ( poa - Garmins do not recognise breast stroke as an open water stroke !! )
I survived the swim by channelling Dory and also reminding myself it was still better than staring into mouths in Linwood :-)
Us girls + Charlesy were driven ~ 45 km up the road then started our ride, winding thru some rolling country side for ~ 75 k until we started the official climb up Mont Ventoux. It was hot, I was struggling to breathe and cough and started to hyperventilate in bits as I had in the swim. I couldnt put out the sort of power I would expect climbing but conceded that I am still under the weather and there was NO way I had come this way to NOT knock that bastard off. SO I did, altho I di get in the van for the descent to Vaison as I felt it prudent not to have cold air rushing across my painful chest.
We spent the night in some medieval hotel, stunningly beautiful. I managed to shuffle round a short run in 20 mins in the warm evening air.
day 1 done, hoping I had not dug myself too much of a hole already !!!
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Sunday, June 26, 2016
Epic Prologue
Oh my, its finally here.
Have been awake before the 5am alarm this morning so thought what better to do than update the blog as intended.
Still have some sniffles and a cough lurking around but feel a lot better than two days ago, survived a 2hour ride yesterday morning although any inclination upwards felt like a struggle which has filled me with even more fear with the impending visit up the famous Mont Ventous today :-)
But I will pace myself into this camp and am happy to take it slow and build in for the first few days ( "slow" - ha, like I have options of other speeds - well, relative to the other campers anyway !)
Weather here down in Aix has been fab, enjoyed a pleasant stroll round the town centre yesterday afternoon with some ogling through patisserie windows and sampling of local delicacies at the market in the square.
Most of the campers have arrived, the odd one without bike, some with cancelled flights still arriving last night. We have a fab support crew lined up and of course plenty of supplies, chamois cream and most importantly (I have to remind myself when things are getting really tough) a GOOD ATTITUDE. Which, cheesy as it sounds ,rhymes with GRATITUDE so stop whingeing and keep pedalling :-)
The biggest challenge here thus far is saying NO to the abundance of pain-aux-chocolats,delectable pastries, artisan breads and the like that are on offer everywhere we turn. Not to mention the local fromage selection. Something to look forward to postcamp errr, I mean Alp d'hues triathlon.
Still having uploading issues with blogger so I will try post some pics to FB and see if I can add a link,
Time for coffee and get the togs on ready for 1st camp session, will post later.
Have been awake before the 5am alarm this morning so thought what better to do than update the blog as intended.
Still have some sniffles and a cough lurking around but feel a lot better than two days ago, survived a 2hour ride yesterday morning although any inclination upwards felt like a struggle which has filled me with even more fear with the impending visit up the famous Mont Ventous today :-)
But I will pace myself into this camp and am happy to take it slow and build in for the first few days ( "slow" - ha, like I have options of other speeds - well, relative to the other campers anyway !)
Weather here down in Aix has been fab, enjoyed a pleasant stroll round the town centre yesterday afternoon with some ogling through patisserie windows and sampling of local delicacies at the market in the square.
Most of the campers have arrived, the odd one without bike, some with cancelled flights still arriving last night. We have a fab support crew lined up and of course plenty of supplies, chamois cream and most importantly (I have to remind myself when things are getting really tough) a GOOD ATTITUDE. Which, cheesy as it sounds ,rhymes with GRATITUDE so stop whingeing and keep pedalling :-)
The biggest challenge here thus far is saying NO to the abundance of pain-aux-chocolats,delectable pastries, artisan breads and the like that are on offer everywhere we turn. Not to mention the local fromage selection. Something to look forward to post
Still having uploading issues with blogger so I will try post some pics to FB and see if I can add a link,
Time for coffee and get the togs on ready for 1st camp session, will post later.
On y va!!!
Well, its been a long time between drinks ( as it were) although I do have 2 drafts lurking in the unpublished column of this blog. One being a race report from Ironman Western Australia in 2014 and the other an update on the happenings and life changes of 2015.
So work is done, the pets are off on their holiday to the kennels and I am trying to rest up and get rid of this tickle cough/runny nose type winter lurgy although the impending 24 hours plus of long haul flying doesn't give me too much hope given departure time is 10 hours away :-)
Well, here I am finishing this off in my hotel room by Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, its 30 degrees out, had the best sleep I've ever had on flights ( in between coughs). Just about to head out and get some fresh air and try get myself into the time zone before retiring for the night in a bed. TGV train to Aix en Provence tomorrow which is our base for the first night or two of camp ( which officially starts Monday 27th June, so hoping I am feeling rested and recovered and less like a sweaty teletubbie than I do now :-)
*** Sorry there are no pics, having a few browser problems which I thought I'd fixed by using Google Chrome but it still seems to dislike me trying to upload anything***
Quick aside- meant to publish this a couple of days ago but have had issues connecting to the Wifi ; finally got that issue resolved too. Hopefully no more technology problems...... A bientot .....
I'll get round to adding photos and publishing those eventually but thought I'd better start the blog again as am about to set off on some cycling and triathlon adventures to France with a trip to Switzerland and Italy sprinkled in for good measure.
I'd like to try blog daily ( not just for extra Epic camp points) but to diarise the trip and ensure that I actually make a concerted effort to take photographs.
So work is done, the pets are off on their holiday to the kennels and I am trying to rest up and get rid of this tickle cough/runny nose type winter lurgy although the impending 24 hours plus of long haul flying doesn't give me too much hope given departure time is 10 hours away :-)
Well, here I am finishing this off in my hotel room by Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, its 30 degrees out, had the best sleep I've ever had on flights ( in between coughs). Just about to head out and get some fresh air and try get myself into the time zone before retiring for the night in a bed. TGV train to Aix en Provence tomorrow which is our base for the first night or two of camp ( which officially starts Monday 27th June, so hoping I am feeling rested and recovered and less like a sweaty teletubbie than I do now :-)
*** Sorry there are no pics, having a few browser problems which I thought I'd fixed by using Google Chrome but it still seems to dislike me trying to upload anything***
Quick aside- meant to publish this a couple of days ago but have had issues connecting to the Wifi ; finally got that issue resolved too. Hopefully no more technology problems...... A bientot .....
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